Renovation of the four older terminals at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport will probably mean higher parking rates for travelers and higher costs for airlines.

It could also mean a slew of new nonstop flights to overseas destinations, as the airport sells itself abroad more aggressively, and fresh new concessions, as it polishes its restaurants and stores.

That was the picture painted by airport officials Thursday as they outlined their financial plan to the airport board at its annual retreat.

The airport, which creates as many as 300,000 local jobs, plans to spend $2 billion to update the 36-year-old buildings. Paying off the future debt load will require concession and parking revenue to double in the next 10 to 15 years, airport staff said.
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To find more money, the airport is targeting three areas: parking, terminal concessions and commercial development. Today the three add up to just under $200 million. In 20 years, that total may be just under $500 million, if the airport's bold steps pan out.

The airport already has a shiny new international terminal, yet has struggled to attract new overseas carriers. Yet somehow, making the other terminals shinier is supposed to solve this challenge?

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The airport staff plans a small parking fee increase – $1 or $2 for each of the airport's parking lots – in next year's budget. D/FW's parking rates trail its peers'; its top rate of $17 a day for parking close to its terminals is less than half what big airports such as Chicago's O'Hare International charge.
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The lease changes and terminal redevelopment plan will push D/FW's cost per passenger up from its current $7 – among the lowest for a big hub airport – to more than $12 per passenger.

D/FW's staff hopes that other airports' costs will rise in coming years, keeping D/FW's price edge intact. That is a crucial selling point to getting airlines to add flights – and more flights mean more passengers to eat, shop and park.

The current price edge is critical, yet they plan to almost double costs, adding over $10/roundtrip. And the master strategy is to "hope" that other airports costs also surge?

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D/FW gets only about 17 percent of the local passengers who have the choice to park. Sixty percent are choosing to be dropped off and picked up at the airport – not so much because of price concerns, said Ken Buchanan, D/FW's executive vice president for revenue management, but because of convenience, availability and even safety concerns.

Attracting those customers is key to increasing parking revenue. "That's where the fish are," he told the board.

Each of the four terminals that will be rebuilt through 2017 will get a new, larger parking garage. D/FW will also rebuild its South Express parking lot with more covered spaces and expand its least-expensive Remote lots.

The A & C garages occasionally fill up early in the week. Other than that, the terminal garages never fill up. The lots only fill on holiday weekends. And the price increase will only hurt demand. Why on earth do we need bigger garages at the other terminals?

Dallas Morning News
The A & C garages occasionally fill up early in the week. Other than that, the terminal garages never fill up. The lots only fill on holiday weekends. And the price increase will only hurt demand. Why on earth do we need bigger garages at the other terminals?

I don't think we necessarily need bigger garages... but we definitely need more accessible garages. Hauling my heavy (laden with work stuff) bag up two flights of stairs in the pouring rain in the leaking C garage on Thursday was frustrating. Other major airports have elevators and garages that don't seep rainwater. Terminal D is the only "decent" garage at DFW.